• High-quality interior feel
• Complicated infotainment
• Frustrating driver assistance tech

How’s the quality and the layout?

Compared with quite a few car makers, the Smart #3’s interior design is commendably clean and neatly laid out. Materials feel solid and well put together, with a big feeling of durability to the buttons, stalks and handles you’ll touch or use regularly.

Some of that cleanliness in the car’s design, however, is due to the distinct lack of physical buttons which may put some people off. The centre console and overall dashboard area is button-free, with only a few functions hidden down the side of the driver’s panel.

Infotainment and tech

As alluded to above, it’s rather critical that Smart #3 gets its infotainment nailed, as so many functions are controlled by a screen or touch-sensitive panels. The screen itself is a 12.8-inch display that looks incredibly crisp and reacts very quickly to inputs. There are some wacky graphics – most shared with the #1 – including some cartoonish pictures of a globe to illustrate the navigation and an animated cheetah on the screen that acts as the car’s embodiment for its voice assistant.

While it’s quick to respond, it’s quite menu-heavy. That means it takes time to get used to, and some functions are usually a few taps of the screen deep before you can get to them. This can be counteracted by a swipe-down quick-access menu where you can turn frequently-used functions on or off, but the menu list doesn’t include a quick-turn-off setting of the speed limit warning sound – a shrill alarm that takes no fewer than seven taps of the screen to turn off every time you drive.

Some other details of the #3’s technology is very frustrating or awkward. The powered doorhandles pop back in after a short while, and they’re a fiddle to pop back out again and the adaptive cruise’s closest distance setting is far enough away for other drivers to cut you up regularly. We’ve also struggled with the car’s driver monitoring system, which has regularly beeped loudly at us and told us that we’re fatigued and need to take a break – despite only being in the car for a few minutes.

Comfort

The #3’s seats are very softly padded and supremely comfortable, making the Smart a good car to do long journeys with.